Petroleum dispensers are generally connected to an underground storage tank through the use of a riser pipe which extends from an underground storage tank, up through the ground and into the bottom side of a conventional petroleum dispenser. The riser pipe generally connects to the inlet side of a standard petroleum pump fuel filter (or strainer or both, hereinafter fuel filter assembly) which removes foreign particles from the petroleum before the petroleum product is pumped into a vehicle or container. Each petroleum dispenser normally includes at least one of these fuel filter assemblies which includes a fuel filter cartridge or screen that must be serviced on a periodic basis in order to assure that the petroleum product maintains an acceptable degree of quality in accordance with industry standards. Thus, in order to maintain the industry standard of fuel quality, service stations must periodically replace the fuel filter cartridge that is located within each fuel filter assembly. However, each time the filter cartridge is replaced, a measurable amount of fuel product is lost because it drains from the fuel filter and consequently spills on the ground or the bottom of the petroleum dispenser. In the past, service technicians have either let the fuel product dump onto the ground or have used a coffee can, or the like, to haphazardly collect the fuel product as it spills out of the fuel filter assembly during removal of the filter cartridge.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a petroleum collector system that would allow the fuel filter cartridge of a fuel filter assembly for a petroleum dispenser to be replaced without allowing fuel product to be dispersed onto the ground. It is also desirable that such a system be suitable for adaptation to original equipment from the manufacturer or be suitable for adaptation to after market products in order to address the hereinbefore mentioned problems. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a petroleum collector system that overcomes the problems of the prior art and allows the filter cartridge of a fuel filter assembly to be changed without spilling petroleum product.